Ribbon Topiary Video Tutorial (Centerpiece)

For Adaline’s 1st Birthday Party in 2010 I made ribbon topiaries as the centerpieces. I originally saw the idea and tutorial on the Polka Dot Birthday blog. I bought all of the supplies for the topiaries at The Hobby Lobby and got the ribbon at 50% off.

While making the ribbon balls for the topiaries last year I made a video “tutorial” (if you can call it that) of how to put the ribbon ball together. The video is really unprofessional since I did it by myself on a whim while Adaline was napping. I didn’t even have any free hands to make the ribbon ball while holding the camera!

Video Tutorial for Ribbon Ball:
(Click to view on YouTube)
(Note: I edited the video on 10/31/13. To watch the excruciatingly long unedited version Click to view on YouTube.)

Instructions:
1. Cut the ribbon into 4.5″ strips
2. Loop the ribbons
Secure with two straight pins. I angled the pins.
3. Cover the entire ball with strips of ribbon. Fill in as necessary.
4. Put the floral foam into your pot or topiary base of your choice
(If the pot needs painted…paint it first!)
5. Paint or cover your dowel rod
6. Poke the dowel rod into the floral foam and also into the completed ribbon ball
7. Cover the floral foam with curling ribbon, etc.

Below are the details for what I used to make the 3 ribbon balls.Details:
-I used 6 inch foam balls
-I used 16 yards ribbon per ball cut into 4.5” strips (48 yards total for 3)
-I used 20-22 strips per color and used 6 different colors,
120-132 strips per ball (360-396 total for 3)
-I used 2 straight pins per ribbon, a total of 250 pins
-The topiaries cost me $20 a piece to make
-The ribbon balls took about 2 hours each to complete

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About Jenn Rian

Jenn is a bored and sarcastic divorced mom of two who blogs and vlogs because the voices in her head tell her to. She blogs about as often as she showers, which isn't very often.
Author of jennrian.com and funanddysfunction.com (coolestfamilyontheblock.com)

Leesa, I know that this reply is now nearly a year old and is probably not any help anymore, but I wanted to correct myself for any new readers that are checking the comments for more details. If you see this comment I want to apologize for giving you the incorrect info and hope that you were still able to make your ribbon balls without any complications. I feel so bad 😦 I couldn’t really remember (since it had been two years since I had made the balls) and I gave you the wrong information. After a commenter recently asked me about my math I re-watched the video in which I said it was 16 yards per ball…and then I did some more calculations, and gosh-darn-it, it was 16y per ball and not for 3. Again, so sorry!

Thanks for commenting, Charlene (and subscribing too ;))! I’m so glad this was helpful. I like detailed instructions myself. I’ll be posting a lot of party stuff from my daughter’s 3rd birthday once I get the chance.

Hello! Hello!
Thanks so much for the information on yardage used. I had a question… did the three balls take up the full 16 yards? Was there any left over? I am doing these for a baby boy baby shower and need to make 12 Topiary centerpieces. So I’m trying to figure out how much ribbon I’d need.
Thanks.

When I was prepping to make the balls I pre-cut all of my ribbon. Since it was already cut I used all of it, you can always find somewhere to stick another piece. So yes, I used all of the ribbon with none left over.

That being said, I don’t think that you need exactly 16 yards. If the ribbon you buy comes in a yardage that leaves you with a little less or a little more you’ll probably be fine.

I wanted to make a correction that I actually used 16 yards per ball and not for all 3 balls as I have previously stated (I’ve since corrected the text in the post above). If you see this comment I want to apologize for giving you the incorrect info and hope that you were still able to make your ribbon balls without any complications. I feel so bad 😦

After a commenter recently asked me about my math I re-watched the video in which I said it was 16 yards per ball…and then I did some more calculations, and gosh-darn-it, it was 16y per ball and not for 3. The rest of my comment about not having any ribbon left over was correct 🙂 Again, so sorry!

Thank you so much, Elaine 🙂
I can’t really take too much credit, I saw the idea online and copied it. It was fairly easy as far as crafts go. I’m not a really crafty person and don’t really enjoy crafts that much. I do like making things for my kids birthdays, though, so I continue to craft anyway 😉

I got all the ribbons on 50% off with Michales because they had a sale., I got all the materials that I need based on you details above but when I go back and read yur blog something seems not right or maybe its just me.

It say above that you used 16 yards for 3pcs 6in balls, abt 120-132 cut ribbons per ball or 360-390pcs based on 4.5 inches.

I did some computation because I wanna know if I have enough ribbons for all 17pcs and how many ribbons i need per ball.

It’s not letting me reply directly to your 2nd comment, so I’m replying on the first comment you made.

It’s been 3 years since I’ve made the ribbon ball, so I can’t really remember what I did. I re-watched the video tutorial that I made and in there I said 16 yards per ball. Then I looked at the photo above that shows a shot of all of the supplies that I used. Out of all of the rolls of ribbon that are shown in the photo I used 14 rolls of ribbon for all 3 balls. The rolls were all about 3-4 yards each, so 3.5 yards x 14 rolls = 49 yards divided by 16 yards = 3.065…so 14 rolls / 49 yards would make 3 balls at 16 yards a piece. So you are correct that it is 16 yards per ball.

When I originally wrote out the tutorial I didn’t specify if the 16 yards were per ball or for 3. Then Leesa asked the question above in the comments and I couldn’t remember and incorrectly told her that it was for all three balls…then I went in and edited my post to (incorrectly) say 16 yards for 3. Oops! I’m so bad with math and combined with my poor memory, well 😦 After I publish this comment, I’ll be editing my post with the correction. Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention. I hope that you’re able to get the rest of the ribbon on sale 🙂

Such fantastic ideas! I am collecting all the materials for the ribbon topiary so l can create one for my twins first birthda. I will let you know how that goes! Please keep sharing your ideas for the ‘non-crafty’ people out there to copy! Thanks, Alecia 🙂